Teach Us to Number Our Days
Throughout our life together we remember the passing of loved ones. Often these passings come at the end of a long life lived in the presence of the Good Shepherd. In these cases we resonate with the psalmist, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints" (Psalm 116:15). Other times, the passing is not so clean. We grieve lives cut short by disease or tragedy. We feel the loss more acutely because we can’t be certain about the state of the soul of the deceased. It is at these times that we remember that death is an enemy, an intruder into our world.
The psalmist of Psalm 90 (Moses) wrestles with the reality of our days this way:
"For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?" (v. 9-11)
After wrestling such, what is his conclusion? He asks the Lord to, "teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom (v. 12).” We are all moving toward the day of our death; it is one of the sure things that we all share. The psalmist invites reflection as we look ahead in order that the days of our lives might be marked by wisdom. The psalmist goes on to turn our eyes toward true Wisdom which can only be found in Christ when he says, "Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days (v. 14)". Can you think of two more beautiful concepts as markers of your life than wisdom and satisfaction? Wisdom and satisfaction seem so beautiful and at times so unattainable, yet they are clearly held out to us as we look to Jesus and surrender to him.
Photo by Adam Tinworth on Unsplash